Astronomers discover 10 more free-floating planets in the milky way

by

Planets, found by an international group of researchers, do not orbit any star!!! … fascinating.

Astronomers have found a clutch of planets that wander alone through interstellar space. The discovery of the objects, which do not orbit any star, will help scientists better understand how planetary systems form and evolve.

The 10 free-floating planets are thousands of light years in the direction of the central bulge of the Milky Way, towards the constellation of Sagittarius. Their masses and compositions are thought to be equivalent to Jupiter and Saturn – mainly hydrogen and helium with trace amounts of heavier elements.

Read more

If homeopathy is real …

by

Somebody quoted this to me today … I love it … “If homeopathy is real, then dumping Osama bin Laden’s corpse in the ocean has just cured the world of terrorism.” Just curious, but does anybody know where this quote originally came from?

How YouTube is popularising science

by

[Cut and pasted from a Guardian article here]

Brian Cox is brilliant for science popularity, but TV is not the only means to communicate science. James Grime explains how small videos are making a big difference to the reach of science.

I have been recognised four times now. Four times! I knew you would be impressed. And what has brought me such notoriety? Is it my fancy suits, my outrageous tabloid lifestyle, or is it my world famous impression of a teapot? No. I make videos about maths on YouTube.

I am one of a growing number of science communicators on YouTube, and I know many readers could be doing the same. If there is a subject you’re passionate about, whatever it is, I want to invite you to join us. In the meantime, here is a favourite video of mine about a surprising mathematical game called non-transitive dice.

Read more

Top 5 Non-Religious Books on Living a Good Life

by

There is a prevailing, and fairly common belief, that we need religion to live a truly ethical and moral life, and that a life without a god (pick any, they all claim it), leads you down the road to immorality. It is pure nonsense of course, and tempting as it might be to explain why, my immediate motivation for this post is not to go there, but rather to highlight a rather interesting list of secular books on the topic of living a good, and yet completely godless, life.

Well-known British philosophy professor, A.C. Grayling, has had a lifetime ambition to distill into one volume the very best secular thoughts, and so after many decades of work, he finally completed it, (if curious, you can click here for more details on his new publication “The Good Book”). Anyway, my point is not to point you at that specific book, but since I’m on the topic, do check it out. Instead I want to make the observation that he spent a heck of a long time  plodding through thousands of texts to complete his book, so he has now got specific recommendations – a Top-5 list of books “on how to live a satisfying and morally good life.” …

I was quite surprised at a couple of them.

Read more